JAPAN: Fukuoka City Transport Bureau has ordered four four-car Series 3000A trainsets to support an expansion of services when the Fukuoka Subway’s 12 km Nanakuma Line is extended by 1·6 km from Tenjin Minami to Hakata in 2022.
Two of the 1 435 mm gauge, 1·5 kV DC trainsets are to be delivered from Hitachi’s Kasado works by October for entry in to service before the end of this year, while the other two will arrive during 2022.
The design will meet the latest standards for protecting passengers and staff from infections, with the use of antibacterial and antiviral materials and coatings for grab rails, hanging straps and seats and increased space near the entrance vestibules in the end cars. This will reduce of the number of adjacent passengers on longitudinal seats from seven to five.
The passenger information system will use LCD screens instead of LED text panels. The thickness of the seat bases is to be increased from 430 mm to 490 mm, making it easier for passengers to rise from a seated position, two levels of handrails are to be installed adjacent to priority seating and lights at the doors will enable people with hearing difficulties to see when the doors are about to open and close.
The trains will be painted blue to represent the sky as a symbol of post-pandemic hope, and green to represents the outline of the mountains to the southwest of the Fukuoka-Kitakyushu conurbation as well as the colour used for the Nanakuma Line.
